From Objects to Data

How we mangle the N.Y. Times datasets……to say something meaningful.

About this project

Introduction

All humanities disciplines are confronted with more and more digital material. This digital material can be studied as individual objects or descriptions of events, but from a digital perspective they can also be considered as data points. Digital methods allow researchers to study relations between objects form a different perspective and on a larger scale.

Purpose

During this course we look at the digital data sources from the N.Y. Times and at the same time work with, and look at, tools that are relevant to the humanities from a programmatic perspective. Think of AWK, sed and the CLI and how they can be used to parse data, write small programmes and help with the analyses of the available datasets.

Our Goal

Mangle the N.Y. Times datasets and say something meaningful about our findings.

Research Question

The research question that will be the focus of our mangling sessions: What could be the most likely explanation(s) for the fact that the humanities stopped being
featured within front-page articles from the 1990’s and onwards?